Leadership is About Relationships, Not Tasks
As a leader, you’ve got a lot to do. No doubt about it, there are tasks galore. Probably a mountain-load, right? And yet, if you want to be a great leader, you’ve got to understand that the mark of your leadership lies in your ability to build quality relationships. This is the most important task for you to undertake. Whatever your to-do-list says on it, if you do not invest time in building relationships, it won’t matter how many tasks you cross off your list.
Building relationships requires you to be present to those around you. You’ve got to listen, you’ve got to connect, you’ve got to invest time and energy in others. This applies to team members, absolutely, but relationship building goes beyond this particular parameter. If you’re the leader of a political party, you must build relationships with constituents. Leader of a religious group? Build relationships with your members and would-be members (and everyone you run into is a would-be member!). Leader of a corporation? Build relationships with your managers, your staff — everyone from the most entry-level position to your most senior manager. No matter what your leadership title, you must hone your ability to build relationships. Without this skill, it won’t matter how productive or efficient you are. People want to feel connected to their leaders. People want to feel connected to you.
Bottom-line: as a leader you’re probably very effective and efficient at getting things done. One of those things, however, has got to be relationship-building. If you’re not so good at this, all the other stuff won’t matter.
Having said all this, let me share that I will be on holidays from now until the 3rd of January — time for me to build relationship with my family 
So, the next blog post will be on January 3rd, 2011. In closing, because I celebrate Christmas, I offer you the traditional greeting of Merry Christmas — and for those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, I wish you all the best of the season. May you enjoy celebrating whatever tradition is yours at this time of year. And may 2011 come in a light-filled way for you and yours!
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